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Tucked away in between a nice leafy cluster of trees and the Indian restaurant Agra, you'll find a dodgy little pub - The Manchester. It's a great place to drop by with friends and get the rowdy on, laugh out loud and not have to be all uptight and uneasy. Basically it's a pretty chill place to hang out at. They've got a lot of weekly events on as well, like Wednesday Quiz Nights, or Open Mic Nights. They're also generally a good spot to catch a match with the boys.

Interior & Ambience

Walking in through the short passage I noticed that it was dark and pretty shady but they'd strung up some fairy lights here and there to ease any paranoia you might experience because everybody knows fairy lights immediately make anything look and feel more innocent. The inside of the pub itself is bathed in dim, warm lighting and is very cosy.

You can sit at tall wooden tables with high chairs or get comfy on leather couches in the corners. One little detail that I noticed and really really liked was that they'd hung up beer bottles and multi coloured fairy lights, a great way to recycle old bottles and a pretty nifty idea for decoration.
It's a really popular bar, there's tons of people having a good time there. If anything it's very snug and inviting.

Drinks

The Whiskey Sour was great. It had a great amount of booze in it and the 'sour' was just right. It wasn't overly sugary in fact there was just the slightest tinge of sugar to perfectly match the tang in unison. A must-have if you go there.

The Mojito was crisp and refreshing. It didn't have a strong boozy accent to it which made you wonder exactly how much alcohol you're getting in your glass but whatever, it tasted great.

Food

Since we were out having fun it would have been a shame to not get some bites to go with our drinks. We got ourselves a plate of Potato Wedges (Rs.550), a plate of Chicken Tikka kebabs (Rs.900) and a portion of Devilled Meatballs (Rs.800).

The wedges were your basic potato wedges accompanied with a dish of tomato sauce. They were nice and hot, crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. Makes for a great dish if you just want something quick and simple.

The Chicken Tikka though whoooo boy, all the bits of chicken on that plate were unbelievably fall-off-the-bone tender, salted and spiced to perfection and had the most satisfactory hint of smokiness to them. I could easily have polished off about five (hundred) portions of this. It was a little pricey at Rs. 900 though!

The Devilled Meatballs weren't anything to sob with happiness about, they were your average meatballs served with a generous helping of spicy sauce, peppers and onions because if you're going to sabotage your digestive system and get the gastritis going with that much spice you should be going all the way.

Service

Since we went there on a busy evening, flagging a waiter down was a bit of a task because like some rare pokemon they were pretty elusive, in range of sight one minute and suddenly gone the next. You need to be a little louder when you decide to call for them because the music is on full blast. They were pretty cheerful and seemed to know their way around the menu which is always, always a bonus.

Conclusion

The Manchester is a great place to enjoy a loud night out with friends, and their drinks are really good. The area around is nice and quiet too so it makes for a fun experience overall.

Manchester is behind Agra, which is near Independence Square. From Independence Ave, turn down the road past the National Library Board. Then turn left and immediately right again, down Foundation Ave.

You guys need to go back here again… These reviews are completely off. This pub is by far the best in Colombo in terms of price, selection of malts, selection of brews, snacks and to top it off Great staff!

Get off your butts n go there for a beer, shameful of you guys to review this place without being there!

You guys need to go back here again… These reviews are completely off. This pub is by far the best in Colombo in terms of price, selection of malts, selection of brews, snacks and to top it off Great staff!

Get off your butts n go there for a beer, shameful of you guys to review this place without being there!

Kaumadie

JudeMilstan

This place reminds me of the karaoke which was at the liberty plaza complex basement. The ambience is very doggy, imagine yourself drunk in the middle of the night searching for taxi's? It's a disaster… Plus there is a resident crowd mixed with all sexual preferences who target little boys and men, these are non-Sri Lankans of course. Men hitting on men, really?
Other than that the price is way too much…

Dr.Marais

don't know which bar you went into Jude, The Manchester is a good pub, that is managed well by both a Sri Lankan and another English fellow, so I am not sure when you went to this place but it is definitely not dodgy and the staff and very pleasant and is popular as well as welcoming toward an eclectic crowd of locals and expatriates irrespective of their creed, race or gender. It is always advisable to book a taxi from most drinking establishments, especially unknowns in any country you visit, the fact that the tuk tuk drivers are not encouraged to hang around by management and security is actually a good thing, as a lot of them take advantage of patrons of these drinking establishments. My suggestion is to be better prepared and to be open minded if you are going to attempt to follow recommendations on this or any other review website.

JapetheApe

vinny

Fatboy

Acting on JudeMilstan‘s review, I went looking for the dodgy (note the spelling Jude!! I presume u meant dodgy rather than doggy.) ambience u described. Instead , I found a great bar which as well as having a relaxed, and friendly atmosphere, was full of a great looking crowd of men and women having a good time. I didnt see any little boys (u dont normally get them in bars Jude) , nor was I hit on by any men ( of any race )! I left feeling disapointed and unwanted, but at least I experienced an awesome friendly pub.

Had the most unpleasant experience this weekend: I was there with a few friends of mine on Friday and while finishing our last drinks at around mid night, the owner extremely inebriated, without any form of provocation starts yelling, "f*** off, get the f*** out now…" to try and throw us out. We were not asked to leave as closing time had come around by any of the waiters who were also sharing a laugh and chat with us outside, which I think irked him more. The night ended up with us arguing with him telling him that we won't stand to be spoken to like that after tabbing the amount we did at his place. Extremely unpleasant. Many a local has complained of his treatment towards them.

Neil

The owner is indeed an absolute prick as the last few reviews have suggested. Went here for a football match and whilst sat at the bar waiting for my friends, was harassed by a waiter who was practically forcing me to by a drink even though I told him that I was waiting for a few of my friends. The owner, a chubby white gentleman, was plopped on one of the customers booths with his legs up and quickly came to the assistance of the rude waiter, condoning his disgusting behaviour and now with the both of them trying to intimidate me. I have been to hundreds of places all around the world and have never been so insulted in my life. I quickly left to cheers where I told my friends of what had just transpired with almost all of them chiming in at the same time about the equally horrible experiences they've had at this place at the hands of the owner and his despicable wait staff. By this point in time, Colombo actually has a fairly decent amount of other bars and pubs to visit with great service and good prices. So avoid The Manchester. Because the more I've asked, the more I find that there is an unsettlingly high number of people who've had these very unsavoury experiences at the joint. Spend your money elsewhere!